In this episode of United Kingdom Tech - Weekly Deals Roundup: United Kingdom Tech saw 31 companies including Currencies Direct, Nothing and Microbiotica raise over $480 million from investors such as Blackstone, EQT Ventures and C Ventures Fund, among others.
Welcome back to United Kingdom Tech Weekly Deals Roundup, a weekly podcast by Tracxn for key startup deals in the United Kingdom from last week.
In this edition, we will cover funding rounds of Currencies Direct, Nothing, Microbiotica, and more. In exits, we will cover the acquisition of Abacus by Naviga among others.
Starting with our deep dive into funding rounds, tech companies in the United Kingdom raised around $480 million of funding across 31 funding rounds during this week.
In a major funding round event, FinTech startup, Currencies Direct, raised $184 million in a Series D funding round led by Blackstone. Currencies Direct offers foreign exchange and international money transfer services for personal and business use. Currencies Direct provides solutions for overseas property transfer, emigration, online money transfer, travel money, risk management, paying suppliers, e-tailoring, and more. Founded in 1996, London-based Currencies Direct has raised $184 million till date.
Audio Tech startup, Nothing, raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by EQT Ventures and C Ventures Fund with participation from Animoca Brands, Gaorong Capital, GV, and others. Nothing is a provider of Bluetooth-connected and noise-cancelling earbuds. Nothing offers products with features like pressure-relieving vents and liquid silicone tips to adjust fit, wireless charging, HD-mics for voice accuracy, sweat and water resistance, automatic pausing of audio on device removal, and integrable mobile applications. Founded in 2020, London-based Nothing has raised $144 million till date.
Cambridge-based Life Sciences startup, Microbiotica, raised $67 million in a Series B funding round led by Flerie Invest and Tencent, with participation from IP Group, Seventure Partners, British Patient Capital, and others. Microbiotica is a developer of live bacterial therapeutics and biomarkers for multiple diseases. Microbiotica identifies gut bacteria linked to phenotype in order to develop therapeutics and biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease, immuno-oncology, and gut epithelial barrier repair. Founded in 2016, Microbiotica has raised $83 million till date.
Glorify, a Religion Tech startup, raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank Latin America Fund. Glorify is an app-based platform offering prayer tracking and management solutions for Christians. Glorify enables users to create a routine for their prayer, manage prayer lists, biblical meditations, Bible and journaling, and more. Founded in 2019, London-based Glorify has raised over $84 million till date.
London-based Auto Tech startup, Carwow, raised over $22 million in a Series C funding round led by ITV with participation from Accel, Daimler, Hercules Capital, and others. Carwow is an online marketplace to buy new cars. Carwow allows buyers to compare new cars and buy directly from dealers that are registered on the platform. Buyers can explore cars by specifying make or model, features, price, and then receive offers directly from the dealers. Founded in 2010, Carwow has raised $150 million till date.
This was all from the funding updates, moving on to the exits. United Kingdom Tech observed 7 exits during the week of 13 Mar 2022.
London-based Enterprise Applications startup, Abacus, was acquired by Naviga. Abacus is a provider of content management, audience engagement, and multichannel publishing solutions. Abacus offers a cloud-based solution for composing a mobile-friendly website and audience engagement database. Abacus also offers a SaaS-based customer data platform, with features like an e-commerce system, multichannel single customer view, customer identity and access management. Founded in 1983, Abacus has raised around $3 million till date from the Business Growth Fund.
Swansea-based Transportation and Logistics Tech startup, Veeqo, was acquired by Amazon. Veeqo is a platform offering cloud-based inventory and fulfillment solutions for businesses. Veeqo's platform includes features like inventory synchronization, sales channels management, inventory forecasting, multi-warehouse routing, order management, shipping management services, and more. Veeqo's solution can be integrated into platforms like Shopify, Shopify Plus, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and more. Founded in 2012, Veeqo has raised over $12 million till date from Octopus Investments and Welsh Government.
This was all for today, we will be back next Monday with more updates. You can subscribe to our podcast on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcast to stay updated. If you have any feedback, please reachout to us at podcast@tracxn.com. Thank you for tuning in today, see you next week.